Repair Journal | Philips 42PF9631D/37

PHILIPS 42PF9631D/37 | 42" PLASMA DISPLAY W/AMBILIGHT

SYMPTOMS: When plugged in, TV has green power LED. However, when the power button is pressed, the TV's relay clicks once or twice before giving up and gives the "7 red blinks" error code. If you look in a service manual, it will say that 7 blinks is a "total failure" or something similar. 

DIAGNOSIS: Total failure sounds decidedly bad and prepares you for news of the same nature. It's too bad, really, that the nice people at Philips couldn't be more helpful. This model is one that is affected by the notorious bulging capacitor issue. The capacitors are a brand named "Samwha," which are made by (you guessed it) an Eastern company! Although, this time, I feel as though it's just poor component choice and bad circuit design that leads so many of these Philips TV's down the road to destruction. 

SOLUTION: The values on the caps are 3300uF 10V. I chose to replace them with 3300uF 16V in hopes that they will last longer. TV works great after installation of new caps at locations C8060 and C8059. 

DIY INSTRUCTIONS:

What you'll need:

1. #10 Torx screwdriver [This one works fine]
2. #2 Phillips-head (cross-head) screwdriver
3. Two (2) 3300uF 16V Capacitors [Buy them at Digikey]
4. Soldering iron (and soldering skills)

• NOTE: I use Chemtronics Chem-Wik to desolder components, but you can use a solder sucker or whatever other methods you find to be appropriate. Through-hole components are some of the easiest to work with, so you shouldn't have too much trouble. Use YouTube if you really need help and/or have not ever soldered before. I also find a pair of needle-nose pliers to be helpful, and keep a pair of wire-cutters around to snip the leads once you solder in the new components. 

How to:

DISCLAIMER: Anything you do when following advice from this blog in its entirety is completely and utterly up to you. This means that I am not responsible for your injuries and/or death if you choose to attempt a DIY repair. There are extremely high voltages involved depending on which repair you are attempting to complete, and proper precautions should be taken. Turn off your TV, unplug it from the wall, and unplug the power cord from the set itself. Let it sit for at least 10 minutes to allow for complete discharge. NEVER OPEN A SET OR PROBE AROUND WITH THE TELEVISION PLUGGED IN IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT. Okay, rant over. Be safe, people.

1. This TV weighs 97 lbs. so it is strongly advised that you find a friend to help you out when moving it around. Prepare a flat surface that will not scratch or mar the PDP or the bezel (e.g. your dining room table with a towel or two laid out on it). 
2. Carefully place the TV on the work area, screen down. 
3. This particular set allows easy access to the PSU via service door. That is, there is a rectangular section of the cover that will come off without having to pull the whole cover. Grab your Torx 10 Screwdriver and be ready to take out a lot of screws.

   

   Here is the back "sub-cover" after screws have been removed.

   

   An example of what screws you will be taking out.

4. Once you remove the cover, you'll see a board with a lot of heat sinks. This is the PSU. You'll need to remove a good amount of cables from the headers on the board. Refer to the images below to help you locate all of them.

   

   Top left of board: Three different harnesses to be removed.

   

   Bottom left of board: Four harnesses.

   

   Bottom center of board: a somewhat hidden harness.
   

   

   Bottom right of board: main power supply cord.

5. Next, use your #2 Phillips Screwdriver to remove all of the board screws (I believe there are about seven of them). It should easily lift right up and out of the TV.
6. I won't go over how to solder in new capacitors, and if you need help figuring that out, please get a hold of me. I don't think you should really be inside your TV if you don't even have basic soldering knowledge, however. 
7. Everything from here on out is just doing it in reverse!
8. Here, I have an example of what bad capacitors look like. They are bulging on the top and one is leaking a slight amount of fluid.

   

   Left: leaking fluid and bulging; Right: bulging

9. Here are the two new capacitors safely installed on the board.

Locations C8060 & C8059

Zoomed-out view for help locating the caps.

I wish you all luck with your Philips televisions, and hope that you can get a few more years out of your purchase. Thank you all for reading this blog, and please feel free to contact me if you would like to guest post or have some information to add to an existing post! And of course, you are more than welcome to get a hold of me if you need help with any of your television repair projects. 

Repair Journal | Samsung UN22D5003BF | UN32D4003BD

SAMSUNG UN22D5003BF | UN32D4003BD | LCD TV
SYMPTOMS: Dead set.
DIAGNOSIS: With no power indicators or anything, I always suspect the PSU. I am lucky enough to have a Samsung test jig for 2011/12 model LCD televisions. This confirmed my suspicion.
SOLUTION: I have worked with two (2) different sets with this model code, and they both had bad PSU/INVERTER boards. The combo board is used in a lot of the new LED LCD sets. This fixed the problem in the 22" set (UN22D5003BF), but in the 32" set, the PSU fixed the TV for less than one month. The PSU did not go bad a second time, but the MAIN PCB shorted out, eliciting the same symptoms. Keep this in mind if you choose to repair this yourself. If it's still under warranty, let Samsung pay for the repair.

As always, for help finding parts or executing the repair, feel free to comment or contact me otherwise.

Repair Journal | OLEVIA 242-S11

OLEVIA 242-S11 | LCD TV
SYMPTOMS: Having difficulty powering on at first, and issue worsened (power up time was slower, TV would sometimes shut itself off, multiple power attempts required, etc.) until the set went completely dead.
DIAGNOSIS: In cases like these, it seems as though the TV doesn't get enough power. Essentially, that is correct. The issue here is a common one. Bad capacitors. In these Olevia sets, there are a few capacitors that usually go out. You will be able to tell if they are bad by the trademark bulge on top.
SOLUTION: Acquired the correct values of capacitors and replaced the bad ones on the PSU. Keep in mind I normally go up a voltage rating (i.e. old cap is a 1000uF 16V; replace with a 1000uF 25V). Here's the capacitors you may or may not need:

• 1000uF 50V and 25V (up from 35V/16V)
• 680uF 25V (up from 16V)
• 1500uF 25V (up from 16V)

If you have questions on repairing one of these models with the same issue, take some good pictures of the PSU and contact me. I'll help you out if I can!

Repair Journal | Viewsonic N4285P

VIEWSONIC N4285P | LCD TV
SYMPTOMS: Set turns itself on and off.
DIAGNOSIS: When a TV does weird things power wise, what do you think should be the culprit? The power supply! Check for bulging capacitors and output voltages. If anything seems off, the PSU is probably shot.
SOLUTION: Order new PSU and replace it. If you are unsure about things (as DIY repairmen often are), just replace the whole PSU. I do the same thing for efficiency reasons and because it's sometimes difficult to find a short if you don't have a schematic. The TV is still working great after many months with its new PSU!